OBSERVED: We were on our way to a rental cabin (Cloud 9 cabins), in Smithville Oklahoma on Oct 1, 2009 on Beechton Road (dirt road) at about 4:30pm. The weather conditions were overcast, temp around 60, no rain, daylight, we were driving about 30 mph. No cars, houses, people for miles around. As we were heading to the west from Mena, Ak about a 1 ˝ miles or so from the turnoff to the cabins, my wife Debbie smelled something sweet but dead smelling at the same time. About a minute after that, we went around a turn in the road, and saw an animal move across the road from the left to the right, into the brush and trees. This animal moved in a very fluid motion on all fours. It was dark grey or black, short hair, about 36” long and about 24” high. It had no tail, no collar on its neck. The head was completely round about the size of a large grapefruit. There were also no ears or snout visible. It ran by moving its legs back and forth, not together as in how a cat would run fast. We could not identify it. We thought we might have seen a baby Sasquatch, going to its mother in the woods. We felt the mother might have crossed first, before we came to the curve. We do know what it was not. It was not a dog, cat, bear, bobcat, skunk, wolverine, rat, rabbit, skunk, or anything else that we have ever seen, and we do spend a lot of time in the woods, hunting and camping. The total time we saw the animal was about 3 seconds, and we stopped to look were it had entered into the woods, but saw nothing. What was more striking in my mind was, if it were to stand up. It would have looked like a small dark person. (keep in mind we didn’t see the face) We still think to this day that is/was a baby Sasquatch. When we got back home in Missouri, we looked on the internet for baby gorillas, to compare what they looked like to this animal, and there was a close match.

ALSO NOTICED: none

OTHER WITNESSES: My wife

OTHER STORIES: Just on TV, and your web site.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 4:30pm

ENVIRONMENT: overcast, daylight, no rain, very good visibility

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Shawn Brotherton:

Spoke in great detail with witnesses on the phone.

Witnesses were heading towards Cloud 9 cabins to spend their anniversary. The dirt road was rough, so Ken was only driving approximately 30 mph. The road made a shallow left curve, and immediately prior to the curve, Debbie smelled something sweet and then it changed to be mixed with a dead animal smell. As soon as they rounded the shallow curve, an unidentifiable animal came out from the left side of the road. Both witnesses watched it go from the left side to the right, walk down into the shallow ditch, and then disappear into the woods on the right hand side of the road. Ken slowed down when he saw the animal. When the animal crossed the road, it was approximately three car’s lengths from their vehicle. Both just kept repeating, what is that?

Ken focused on the head when he saw the animal. He said that he could not see eyes, ears, or snout on the creature. The animal also had no tail. He said the head was round, and the animal had black hair covering its body. He estimates that the animal would have been four feet tall if it stood up. The animal did not appear to even acknowledge their car. Ken and Debbie could not identify the animal at all and still can not to this date.

Debbie briefly saw the head and agreed that she did not see any ears or a snout of any kind, and it did not have a tail. She focused a lot on the movement of the animal. She still does not know why but she is very confused by the way it moved. She thought it moved like her cat – on its tippy toes. She also thought it was odd that instead of jumping over the ditch like most animals. It walked down the 2-3 foot ditch. The backside did not look like any other animal she knows (it appeared rounded).

The witness tried to see where the animal went and looked down the path it took but did not see anything more.

When the witnesses returned home, they went to separate rooms and drew the animal that they saw. They sent me this copy of the drawings via email.

About BFRO Investigator Shawn Brotherton:

Shawn Marie is an attorney. Her undergraduate included extensive work in anthropology. She has been on four BFRO expeditions (Missouri '09, Nor Cal '10, and Redwoods '09 and '10) and hikes and camps locally.